Gateway lands on another retailer's shelves

Gateway announced Monday that its desktops will show up on CompUSA's shelves later this week. The deal, which comes after pacts with Best Buy and Best Buy Canada, is part of the company's plan to evolve beyond its direct roots after its merger with eMachines.

"This represents another significant step forward in ensuring that the Gateway brand is widely available at the retail outlets where our customers shop," Gateway CEO Wayne Inouye said in a statement.

The arrival of Gateway at major stores provides additional competition for Hewlett-Packard, which had become the undisputed king of retail PCs after it in May 2002. HP has managed to make its PC line profitable, but is still experiencing slower sales growth than rival Dell.

Gateway said it plans to announce the machines it will sell at CompUSA later this week. CompUSA said the move will help the store offer customers more options.

"Gateway is one of the most popular PC brands on the market today," CompUSA Vice President Gary Bale said in a statement. "One of CompUSA's goals is to provide our customers with the widest range of choices available, so we're pleased to be adding Gateway PCs to our shelves."